


feels like home

by nygmadaydreams



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dumbass family drama cause Ozzie is dramatic, Ed the dog for president, Fluff, Gertrud and Elijah fucking love Ed Nygma, Humor, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 18:39:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19025647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nygmadaydreams/pseuds/nygmadaydreams
Summary: Edward is nervous to meet his possible future parent-in-laws, but Oswald assures him it's going to be okay. A lot of hugs and stupid drama ensue.





	feels like home

**Author's Note:**

> here's a drabble i wrote instead of sleeping before my exam. first fic on ao3!  
> no proofreading or any real context to anything, we die like men.

Edward’s serene sleep was interrupted by a sound of something falling to the ground, followed by a whole bunch of swearwords – some in English, other in a foreign language Ed’s brain was too tired to detect. He groaned and opened his eyes a smidge, groping the mattress around his head to get a hold of his glasses. Once he managed to place the glasses on his nose, his eyes landed on his roommate who was still screaming obscenities at the bowl of cereal on their dorm room floor.

“Babe...”, Ed muttered, brushing a hand through his messy morning hair. “What the _hell_ are you doing?”

Oswald raised his eyes from the mess, expression filled with pure rage. “I spilled my cereal!”

“I can see that”, Edward stated and rubbed his eyes beneath the glasses. It was a surprise that Oswald was up before him, but a welcome one at that. “You think shouting at it will make the chocolate milk disappear off the floor?”

Oswald let out a frustrated huff and crossed his arms. “No”, he admitted and shifted his balance, blush covering his face. “Sorry for waking you up, love.” Ed shook his head dismissively and gave a small smile, reaching for his phone that was charging underneath his pillow. He didn’t believe the foil hat grandmas who shouted that electronics sent beams of bad energy into your brain. He unlocked the screen and stared at it in shock.

“Ten?!” he squealed and threw the phone back on the bed, getting up in a rush.

“You late for somethin’?”

“Oswald, you can’t eat cereal off the ground”, Ed sighed as he looked at the shorter man who had crouched and taken a spoonful of his ruined breakfast off the floor into his mouth. “I was supposed to wake up at seven and be in the library by eight. Damn it.”

“First, five second rule. Second, what kind of masochist goes to library at eight in the morning? On a Sunday?” Oswald got up from the ground and moved into their small kitchen space as they spoke. He picked up a rag and started cleaning up the mess he’d made while Ed started looking for a pair of pants.

“My last exam is tomorrow. I want to get a good grade, is all”, Ed muttered as he pulled his tank top off and switched it for a button-up t-shirt.

“We both know you’d get an A without studying”, Oswald scoffed and picked up the plastic bowl from the floor.

“Would I? I suck at Spanish.”

“Why do you torture yourself with Spanish of all things?” Oswald asked and rolled his eyes.

“I started in high school and I’m not a quitter”, Ed shrugged. **“** _El que la hace, la paga.”_

“Yeah, I got no clue what you just said”, Oswald grinned and threw the dirty rag back into the kitchen. Ed just smiled and buttoned up his shirt. He looked at himself through Oswald’s full body mirror and pursed his lips together. He looked the same as always; slightly tired, nerdy, pants too short for his long legs.

“You’re so cute...”, Oswald purred, placing his arms around Ed’s waist and snuggling his back from behind. Ed bit his lip to hide the stupid grin on his face. He turned around so he could face his beloved bird.

“Why, thank you”, the brunette smooched the shorter one in the forehead.

“I can’t wait for the next weekend”, Oswald chirped and tiptoed so he could steal a proper kiss from the tall man. “I’m so tired of seeing you work yourself to the bone. You’ll finally get to relax... in good company.” He ran his hands across Ed’s clothed back as he spoke.

“I can’t wait either”, Ed admitted. “I’ll finally get to meet your parents. It’s thrilling. Also mildly terrifying.”

“They’re not that bad, just a little old-fashioned”, Oswald laughed and raised one hand to brush Ed’s face with his thumb.

“That’s exactly what I’m scared of, Ozzie”, Ed grabbed Oswald’s cool hand and pressed it harder against his face. “What if I’m not... good enough, in their opinion?”

“Are you kidding me?” Oswald said and arched his eyebrow in mild disbelief. “Mom talks about you _non-stop_ in the letters she sends. She really loves you already.”

“That’s only because you’ve told her all the good things about me”, Ed laughed dryly.

“Well what bad is there to tell? None.”

“I don’t know, that I’m incompetent as socializing, have terrible sense in fashion, no sleep schedule-“

“Shut up”, Oswald shushed him and kissed him again, slightly rougher this time around. “They’ll love ya, promise”, he whispered against Ed’s lips. Ed couldn’t help but relax in the smaller man’s touch. It felt so safe with Oswald’s arms around him.

“Besides”, Oswald said when they finally let go of each other. A huge grin was plastered across his face. “All mom cares about that you’re handsome as fuck and good at cookin’. Capishe?”

\---

As it turned out, Edward had indeed aced all his exams. Oswald had passed, somewhat gracefully. It seemed like Ed’s tutoring had at least kind of worked, although Oswald was a little too set in his old ways to immediately turn into a straight A genius within half a year. They’d left the campus right after the graduation ceremony – one of which Oswald had nearly fallen asleep during – and taken a course to the countryside on Edward’s old, broken down car. Ed drove and Oswald had the navigator’s job. And the DJ’s, because he blasted punk rock giants from the low quality car stereos the whole hour long drive.

“Why don’t you visit more often?” Ed shouted over the blasting music when there was about five minutes left to their trip. “I mean, an hour isn’t that long of a drive.”

“I don’t drive. You know that”, Oswald said and was merciful enough to turn down the volume so they could converse in a civilized manner.

“I do. Could’ve just asked me to drive.”

“Nice one, Ed. You almost shat your pants when I suggested you meet my parents”, Oswald laughed loudly and turned up the music again.

Oswald hadn’t lied when he said his parents had a mansion. While Ed had been a little scared to get too curious when it came to Oswald’s family situation (or maybe he was just scared the conversation would switch to his own horrible family life), the man had been surprisingly open to talk about the entirety of his past. Apparently he had only met his father a few months prior leaving for college, their parents had finally gotten married after being separated for Oswald’s whole life and now they lived in the Gotham countryside, as far from the heart of the city as possible while still staying within the city lines.

“Ah! Home sweet home”, Oswald exclaimed as he climbed out of the car and began stretching his limbs. Ed got out as well and opened the trunk to pull out their suitcases. Oswald’s was mainly filled with clothes, makeup and hair products whereas Ed had actually grabbed useful things such as a toothbrush and towels.

“I can’t believe you live in a mansion”, Ed shook his head with disbelief as he looked at the huge house in front of them.

“What? I don’t strike you as royalty?” Oswald joked and draped across the staircase railing suggestively.

“Not exactly”, Ed giggled and picked the bags up from the ground. Oswald was truly amazing at making others do all physical labour for him, because Ed had to carry their cases up the stairs all by himself. At least he got to enjoy Oswald’s ass in front of him in a tight pair of black booty shorts.

“You know, I’ll inherit the whole place once my parents are gone”, Oswald said and stood up in front of the door. “I’ll be Sir Oswald Chesterfield Kapelput-Van Dahl. In a mansion.”

Edward bowed mockingly and saluted him. “That’ll be a fun one to have in a passport”, he snickered.

Oswald rolled his eyes with a fond smile on his lips and turned to the door. He had barely managed to grab the door knocker when the door already swung violently open, almost pulling Oswald on the ground with the impact. Ed’s brain had no time to register the incoherent squeal before the wildest head of curly hair already devoured Oswald with kisses.

“M-mum!” Oswald tried to get free of his mother’s death-grip to no avail. When the woman finally pulled back enough to look at his son with teary eyes, Oswald’s pale face was covered in plum-colored lipstick marks.

“My little _Liebchen_!” the woman cooed, cradling Oswald in her arms again. Oswald hugged the woman back, but it seemed like it was more of a way to get the situation over with sooner than a genuine act of love.

“I missed you too, mum”, Oswald laughed, still catching his breath from the earlier kiss attack. He glanced at Ed and grinned apologetically. Oswald pat his mother’s back and forced them apart, still allowing her to hold his hands. His gaze shifted to the man that had entered the doorway with a soft smile on his lips.

“Dad”, Oswald acknowledged the man’s presence at the same time as Ed did. The father-son-combo also shared a hug, much calmer and briefer than the one with Oswald’s mother, but something about the way Oswald smiled so genuinely as his father’s arms wrapped around him made Ed’s heart ache. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or jealous.

“Oh my goodness!” his mother exclaimed suddenly and startled Ed who had been entranced by the hug. Oswald let go of his dad just as his mother grabbed his arm and pulled him close. “Is this _him_?” she eyed Edward quite blatantly. Oswald looked at him, then back at his mom, then back at Ed again.

“Uhh. Yeah”, Oswald said with a sheepish smile. “That’s Edward. My boyfriend.”

“Why you don’t tell me he is so handsome!” Oswald’s smile turned into a both awkward and victorious grin as the praise left his mom’s lips. Ed flushed a shade of pink. Oswald looked at him and quickly mouthed “ _told you_ ”.

“Ed, this is my mum, Gertrud. You probably figured that out already, though”, he said and chuckled. Ed nodded and gave an awkward smile. He felt all three pairs of eyes on him and he felt like he was on fire. Gertrud left his son’s side and instead rushed up to Ed. He let out an incomprehensible voice when the woman hugged him. He looked at Oswald with a mix of terror and fondness in his eyes. Oswald seemed to see the issue, because he quickly came to his aid and ripped his mother’s arms away from Ed.

“Mum!” he whined and held her hands again to get her to stay in check. “You can’t just- never mind”, he muttered since he clearly found no argument to support his actions. Gertrud pursed her lips together and pinched Oswald’s cheek.

“Always so protective, you are”, she said and smiled. “This is a good boy. He makes you happy, yes?”

“Yeah”, Oswald said. Ed found it adorable how his ears were a shade of bright red. “Um. Shouldn’t you go check on the goulash?”

“Oh, yes, yes!” Gertrud exclaimed and quickly gave one more kiss on Oswald’s lips before removing herself from the situation as soon as she had arrived. Ed wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he was thankful that at least one of Oswald’s parents seemed rather calm.

“Elijah Van Dahl. Oswald’s father”, the older man raised his hand with that same soft smile. It seemed like a neutral expression for him. It made Ed calm down immediately, and he felt his heartrate slowing down to the normal 70 bpm. He shook the man’s hand and licked his lips.

“Edward. Nygma. Sir”, he cursed his non-existent social skills.

“Please”, the other said and shook his head. “Elijah will do just fine. Anyone whom my son loves is a part of the family.” The tone of voice was so genuine at Ed almost teared up before Oswald broke the moment by grabbing Ed’s vacant hand.

“So cute. I could vomit”, Oswald said and smirked.

“Why don’t you two go eat? I’ll take care of this”, Elijah said and gestured over to the abandoned suitcases on the terrace. Oswald’s eyes glimmered.

“Oh my god the goulash”, he whispered in pure bliss before snapping back to the ground and tugging on Ed’s arm. “You HAVE to try the goulash, Ed.”

After Oswald had gotten rid of the lipstick all over his face – cursing how his mom had used a waterproof one –, they entered the dining room. Ed felt like he was getting overly excited over everything he saw in the mansion, but then again he had never been in one. The oil paintings of Oswald’s distant relatives and the sweet mood lighting of the candles made him feel like he was in a movie scene. The table had already been set and the food was ready to served. Oswald took a seat at the table and gestured Ed to do the same. He did and couldn’t help feeling like he was invading someone’s privacy by being present. Oswald didn’t even wait around for his mom to sit down before already starting to dig into the pot of goulash in front of him like he had never been fed.

“Ooooh my gooooddd”, he mumbled with a full mouth as he downed the first spoonful of the food. “Yes, yes, yes.”

Ed exhaled through his nose before also taking a bite himself. It was delicious, but perhaps Oswald just had some sort of emotional connection to the food, because he didn’t get the same praise-the-lord-reaction from it.

“Good, right?” Oswald asked, eagerly stuffing his mouth full again.

“Yes. It’s really good”, Ed smiled and turned to Gertrud who had sat down opposite of him. “Thank you.”

“My son loves goulash”, Gertrud said fondly and looked at Oswald with a trail of goulash dripping down his chin like he was a god.

“You know, I tried to get Ed to make this”, Oswald told his mom and chugged down half a glass of water in one go. “No luck”, he laughed and made Ed blush slightly. “I mean he can cook, yeah, but it sucked compared to this! Sorry, love.” He nudged Ed’s arm and smiled cunningly.

“My little Kapelput tell me so much about this Edward”, Gertrud revealed. It was Oswald’s turn to blush, but he had stuffed a huge piece of meat in his mouth and was currently muted by his own gluttony. “So smart and handsome and kind, he says”, the woman continued. “I believe that.”

“That’s very good to know”, Ed said and smirked at Oswald who finally got his mouth empty and buried his face in the water glass to soothe his blush. Suddenly, his expression shifted from embarrassed to absolutely feral.

“Edward!” he shouted and made Ed jump.

“Yes?”

“No no no”, Oswald said and stood up, dropping the napkin on the floor. “Where’s Edward, mum?!”

“Lounge the last I see”, Gertrud said with knitted brows. Oswald rushed out of the room, leaving Edward in complete and utter confusion. He wanted to ask multiple question, but Oswald already returned before he could get any of them out. He was holding a large bulldog with a spiked collar around its neck.

“...ch a good boy you are, yes! Yes, you are! A good boy, I love you so so much”, Oswald mumbled into the dog’s short fur while drowning the pup in smooches.

“Wait- you have a dog?” Ed asked, raising his eyebrows so much you could actually see them above the frame of his glasses for once.

“Edward, meet your namesake”, Oswald said , cryptic, and planted the dog on Ed’s lap.

“Huh?”

“My dog. Edward.”

“I can see that.”

“No, I meant that his name is Edward! Isn’t he cute?” Oswald pet the dog and smiled brightly. “Of course he is, the cutest boy!” he didn’t wait for an answer.

“You named a dog after me?” Ed spat out. He looked at Gertrud in disbelief.

“Of course I didn’t! I got Edward like five years ago. Waaaay before we met”, Oswald rolled his eyes and laughed. He picked the dog up again and sat down with the pup on top of his thighs.

“Unbelievable”, Ed muttered and grabbed his spoon again. Oswald placed his plate on his lap in front of the dog and let it lick the plate clean.

“Oswald, I thought I said you shouldn’t feed him goulash.” Elijah had entered the room and appeared behind Ed’s back, reaching for the plate and grabbing it from his son’s lap.

“But he loves it, dad!” Oswald whined. “Look at his happy little face!” He lifted Edward the dog and presented him to Elijah. It looked unphased and more pissed than anything. Elijah hummed with a soft smile and placed the plate on the table.

“No dogs at the dinner table, please”, he said. To Ed’s surprise, Oswald actually complied and placed the dog on the ground after letting out a frustrated huff.

“I haven’t seem him in six months...”, he muttered with a pout.

“Just like you haven’t seen us”, Elijah laughed and began filling his own plate. “Besides, don’t we have another Edward to focus on right now? Please, do tell us about yourself.” He looked at Edward with an interested look. Ed avoided the question by stuffing more goulash into his mouth.

“Um”, he cleared his throat with a cough, “Well, I’m nineteen. I study forensic science and crime scene investigation. Or, that’s what I want to become, at least, a forensic scientist. I do biology, chemistry, anthropology...”, he trailed off, getting more and more embarrassed. He was not an interesting person in the slightest. What was he even supposed to talk about???

“You seem like an ambitious young man, then”, Elijah complimented and twirled a glass of wine in his hand. “I have a lot of respect for those of us who take care of the criminal justice system.”

“Oh”, Ed wasn’t sure how to respond to such a statement. When he had told his own father he wanted to study forensics the first reaction had been a belly laugh – “You’ll never make it, boy.” – and then a beating.

“Maybe someone else will get some motivation to study now that they have you as company”, Elijah gave a knowing look to Oswald, who let out an exasperated sigh.

“I _am_ studying! C’mon, dad, I thought we were meant to be talkin’ about Ed.” He crossed his arms and pouted again.

“We know you try so hard, _Liebchen_ ”, Gertrud tuned in and smiled. Her smile always seemed to look kind of sad, but maybe it was just her face. Maybe Ed was too focused on examining people again instead of bloody _socializing_ with them.

“Would help if I fuckin’ _liked_ what I study”, Oswald scoffed and shook his head. “Organizational Communication is bullshit. I’m becoming a stripper.”

“Do no talk like that, son”, Elijah said firmly. The tone of the conversation had shifted for the worst and Ed knew it was his fault for going on about school. He could’ve mentioned he liked reading, or that his favorite color was green, or literally anything else than his studies.

“You will be someone big one day”, Gertrud said in a soothing tone and reached over the table for Oswald’s hand. He didn’t grab hers.

“A big stripper, then”, he said and stood up. He spotted the dog still hanging around the table and scooped the pup up from the ground, holding it tightly. “Thanks for the meal.” With that, he turned up his nose and turned away, rushing out of the room almost as fast as he had when he went to look for the dog.

“What... just happened...?” Ed asked carefully after a moment of silence. Elijah sighed and Gertrud patted her eyes with a handkerchief.

“My boy is so smart! He push himself too hard, poor angel”, Gertrud shook her head and blew her nose.

“Oswald does not like to talk about school”, Elijah said and glanced at the doorway, half-expecting Oswald to return upon hearing his voice. No chance. He rubbed his wife’s shoulder reassuringly and gave an apologetic look to Ed. “I should go talk to him.”

“Yeah, probably”, Ed muttered and lowered his gaze. He stared at his empty plate. This was his fault. Gertrud and Elijah stood up in unison, but parted ways with the man leaving the room and the woman beginning to clean the table up, still teary-eyed. Ed felt awful as he got up and pushed the chair beneath the table.

“Can I help you?” he asked as he handed his plate to Gertrud.

“Oh, you are guest here! No worker”, the woman shook her head dismissively.

“I want to help”, Ed insisted and looked at her with pleaded eyes. Truth be told, he was scared to face Oswald after his temper tantrum. “Consider it a thank you?”

While the initial couple of minutes had been a bit awkward, Ed found himself opening up in Gertrud’s presence. She was a little melodramatic, but very talkative and sweet. Ed couldn’t help but smile as he listened to her talk about Oswald. She clearly loved him an incredible amount. That kind of parental love was something Ed couldn’t sympathise with, but he appreciated it, nonetheless. Oswald deserved all the love he could get. They got through the dishes fast with Gertrud washing and Edward drying them and placing them on the wash rack.

“Oswald loves you so very much”, Gertrud said out of thin air and startled Ed a little bit with the sudden blast of honestly.

“I- I love him too”, he said, a bit unsure if that was the reaction she was hoping for.

“People hurt him when he was little. We had not much money. He was so small, so fragile. Just a baby”, she went on. Ed’s brows knitted a bit and he leaned against the kitchen countertop. “And high school was hard. He always would smile and say ‘ _Oh, mom, it’s nothing’_ but a mother knows. At night he would cry, try hide it from me.”

“I’m sorry”, was all Ed managed to get out. He didn’t know if he was even expected to answer.

“But last Christmas, it is different!” Gertrud exclaimed, suddenly looking happy. “He come home for Christmas and all he can talk about is this boy. New roommate.” Ed’s heart almost leaped out of his chest.

“He talked about me? Back then?” he asked. They hadn’t begun dating until February of this year...

“Whole time he was here!” Gertrud beamed. “Edward bring him chocolate before exam. Edward help him pass with good grades. Edward always sleep so cutely”, she continued, the soft smile turning into a bit of a mischievous one. Ed blushed, but didn’t say what was currently going on in his mind.

“You are my Kapelput’s first friend and love”, Gertrud grabbed his hands and squeezed as hard as an older lady could. “Don’t hurt him.”

“I will never do that”, Ed promised, stomach tying itself into a knot. _‘At least I’ll try not to’_ , he wanted to say, but didn’t. Gertrud kissed his hand and let go.

“Now”, she said and clapped her hands, the same childlike excitement back on her face. “I want to show you photos.”

Edward was comfortably snuggled on the soft couch in the lounge, Gertrud right next to him, when the room swung open. Elijah entered first, soon followed by Oswald. He’d gotten rid of his eye makeup, and Ed suspected it had smeared due to crying. Elijah squeezed his son’s shoulder before leaving the room. Ed met Oswald’s green eyes. Yeah, he definitely had cried. The whites of his eyes were red and so was the tip of his nose.

“What’re you two doing?” Oswald asked with a hoarse voice, clearly ready to put the previous incident behind him. Ed raised the book that was laid down in his lap.

“Gertrud’s showing me baby pictures”, he said with a timid smile. Oswald’s cheeks turned red.

“Mom!” he yelled and rushed to grab the book from Ed’s hands. “Ed does _not_ have to see my naked baby ass!”

“He wanted to see them”, Gertrud defended herself and Ed nodded.

“You were a cute baby”, he said. “I mean. You’re still cute.”

“Mom, could you go... somewhere else?” Oswald asked and tapped his foot against the ground anxiously. The woman got up and wrapped her arms around Oswald for a moment. Ed could barely hear the words they exchanged, but Oswald was clearly apologizing for blowing up in such a crude manner. His mom left them alone after a smooch on Oswald’s cheek.

“Really? Baby pics?” Oswald scoffed and slumped on the sofa, putting his arms around Ed and cuddling right up to him. Ed smiled and raised the book that Oswald had just returned to him.

“You were so cute.” He brushed his thumb across a photo where Oswald was holding a huge worn teddy bear and beaming at the camera with only two teeth sticking out of his mouth.

“A real charmer”, Oswald smirked and picked up the second photo album from the coffee table.

“You never told me you were blonde”, Ed said, flipping through the photos slowly.

“Yeah, well, that didn’t really go with my aesthetic”, the raven-haired man laughed and brushed a hand through his messy hair. “I dyed it on seventh grade.”

“Was the blonde not emo enough?”

Oswald slapped Ed on the arm playfully and grinned like a shark. “Yeah. Way too 1980’s hipster.” They shared a long moment of just staring into one another’s eyes. “I’m sorry I flipped out like that earlier”, Oswald finally said and lowered his gaze, leaning into Ed’s shoulder.

“It’s okay”, Ed assured and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. He rubbed his arm and smiled. “I got to know your mom better.”

“I hope she wasn’t too much.”

“She’s delightful”, Edward said honestly. “Nothing like my mom. I’ve known Gertrud for like two hours and I would die for her.” Oswald laughed and pecked a small kiss on Ed’s cheek.

“Well I mean, she did give birth to the legend you’re currently looking at.” There it was, Ed thought and grinned. The cocky Oswald Cobblepot he knew and loved. Good to know he had gotten his spite back.

“I oughta thank her for that blessing”, he said quietly and hooked a finger underneath Oswald’s chin, making him cock his head so their eyes could properly meet. “You’re delightful too, Oswald. I guess that runs in the family.”

He closed his eyes and slowly kissed the smaller man. He smiled against Oswald’s lips as he wrapped his arms tightly around his neck and kissed back. This was good. He felt safe. He felt happy. He was home.

 


End file.
